Smoking is a serious habit that has been linked to a wide variety of cancers and may play a contributing role in the development of a host of other potentially deadly diseases. The connection between this habit and cancer, in fact, has long been established. One of the first definitive looks at smoking and lung cancer was published way back in 1939, but it took decades before the general public would become fully aware of the dangers lighting up might pose.
A timeline of the findings of researchers in regard to the smoking-cancer link sheds light on just how rapidly the body of evidence against the habit grew even as the acceptance of smoking continued. In the 1950s, for example, a major study came out that was published in the Journal of the American Medical Association. That study connected cigarette smoking to a rise in lung cancer deaths of an estimated 144 percent from 1938 to 1948. This study was followed by many more, but the persistence of the habit continued.
By the end of the 1950s, the American Surgeon General issued a statement about the lung cancer risk smokers faced. As the 1960s arrived, medical professionals were beginning to offer smoking cessation assistance to patients. Despite increasing evidence of the connection, the first health warnings didn’t appear on cigarette packages until 1966. While the number of smokers has declined in the years that have followed, the habit hasn’t been crushed out entirely just yet. Each year, thousands for current and former smokers are diagnosed with lung cancer and related diseases.
Battling the effects of smoking remains an ongoing concern for healthcare providers and advocates of a smoke-free society. For those who do smoke and wish to kick the habit, a number of programs and tools are now available to assist them. Quitting smoking and sticking with the plan can dramatically lower a person’s risk of cancer and a host of other diseases.
While it took society decades to fully embrace the link between smoking and cancer, it is now very well established. Smokers who need help leaving the habit behind are urged to speak with their healthcare providers for assistance.
